Sylvester Stallone Teases 2018 Start Date for Creed 2

Sylvester Stallone has been doing a great job of hyping up Creed 2 just like any good boxing promoter would and now it seems as if Stallone is teasing that production will start in 2018. The actor along with Dolph Lundgren have not so subtlety been teasing the return of Ivan Drago for a match 30-years in the making as well. It is not clear just yet just how Drago will factor into the upcoming sequel to Creed, but Stallone has recently said that he will throw at least one punch in Drago's direction. Subtlety might not be one of Stallone and Lundgren's strong points.

The 2018 production news for Creed 2 comes to us via Sylvester Stallone's Instagram page. The post features a gym picture of a training Michael B. Jordan with Stallone standing behind him and a caption that reads: "Getting stronger!!! 2018." And again, not necessarily a hint, but more of a confirmation that Creed 2 will start production sometime in 2018, which makes sense since it seems that Stallone has recently finished writing the script and the fact that Dolph Lundgren has recently been training.

It's looking like the sequel could pit Adonis Johnson Creed (Jordan) up against the son of Ivan Drago, the Russian heavyweight who killed Apollo Creed in a brutal match in the 1985 movie Rocky IV. Stallone has also teased this notion on his social media and again, not so subtle. But it is still way too early to tell just exactly what Sylvester Stallone has planned for the sequel to Creed, even though it sounds that Stallone might just tell you if you walked up and asked because his excitement for the project can hardly be contained at this point.

Variety reached out to the MGM studio for clarification on Stallone's social media post, but all that was revealed was, "We are continuing to work on developing the sequel to Creed," a spokeswoman said. In July, Stallone announced that he had completed a 120-page screenplay that he whittled down from 439 pages with a photo on social media of his handwritten draft. That's one way of not letting your script get leaked: handwrite it. Pro tip from Sylvester Stallone.

It is assumed that Creed director Ryan Coogler will return to direct the sequel, but that is not official at this time. Coogler is currently working on Marvel's highly anticipated Black Panther, which will be released in February of 2018, which could mean that production for Creed 2 could start pretty much right after that, if Coogler is attached to the project. Creed grossed $173.6 million dollars worldwide with a budget of $35 million, making it a box office success. The movie was a critical success as well, with the majority of the critics praising the movie and the writing. In addition, Creed was nominated and won numerous awards including NAACP Image Awards and the Golden Globes. Sylvester Stallone's hype machine is working really well right now and the future for Creed 2 looks bright. Check out Stallone's Instagram post below.